


It is better to be feared than loved

by Jay Tryfanstone (tryfanstone)



Category: For My Lady's Heart - Laura Kinsale, KINSALE Laura - Works
Genre: Drabble, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-08-08
Updated: 2012-08-08
Packaged: 2017-11-11 17:47:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 100
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/481196
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tryfanstone/pseuds/Jay%20Tryfanstone
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gian/Allegretto, from Laura Kinsale's <i>For My Lady's Heart</i>. This version is not in Middle English. The title's a quote from Machiavelli.</p>
            </blockquote>





	It is better to be feared than loved

The Smyrna merchant taps his fingers against the salt cellar. “How much?”

Sharp-toothed in motley, the boy yawns.

Gian says, “He is not for sale,” and smiles.

The comment costs.

Gian confesses: the sin of greed. The sin of covetousness. The sin of murder – ten paternosters and a new Lady Chapel.The boy is his.

Although later, when Allegretto lies sprawled across the marten-fur coverlet of the bedstead, his skin gleaming in candlelight and his hair still tangled in sleep, Gian wonders what the price will be.

There are some things to which he will never confess.

Love is one.


End file.
